{"id":86614,"date":"2016-02-02T15:34:03","date_gmt":"2016-02-02T20:34:03","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=86614"},"modified":"2016-02-02T13:13:12","modified_gmt":"2016-02-02T18:13:12","slug":"naral-doesnt-fight-choice-can","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/naral-doesnt-fight-choice-can\/","title":{"rendered":"NARAL doesn\u2019t fight for choice, but you can"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Recently, I described<\/a> how some really nice folks<\/a> put me on Planned Parenthood\u2019s fundraising list. While I\u2019m hesitant to give money, I did<\/em> offer America\u2019s largest abortion chain<\/a> some PR advice. For example, I pointed out that it sounds kinda bad when clinic staff refer to an aborted fetus as \u201ca baby<\/a>\u201d or \u201canother boy<\/a>.\u201d Also, providing child rapists<\/a> with cover-up abortions doesn\u2019t look great either.<\/p>\n

Planned Parenthood isn\u2019t the only outfit that has my email address<\/a>, however. NARAL does too, which is why I get stuff like this…<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"NARAL

You know, at least Planned Parenthood bothers to use my name.<\/p><\/div>\n

What is NARAL Pro-Choice America?\u00a0 \u201cNARAL\u201d originally stood for \u201cNational Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws.\u201d Then it was \u201cNational Abortion Rights Action League\u201d and later \u201cNational Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League.\u201d They don\u2019t say what it stands for now.<\/p>\n

But despite staying vague about the first half of their name, the group has a clear definition for the second. According to them<\/a>, \u201cBeing pro-choice means protecting women’s access to safe, legal abortion.\u201d Now, I don\u2019t really agree with conflating the terms \u201cabortion\u201d and \u201cchoice,\u201d but I admit they\u2019re connected. After all, abortion is<\/i> a choice.<\/p>\n

Just not always for the woman who’s having it.<\/p>\n

For a man who\u2019d rather not pay child support, abortion can seem like a great alternative. Mom might not be so enthused, though. Perhaps she\u2019s read about\u00a0fetal pain research<\/a>\u00a0or the link between\u00a0abortion and suicide<\/a>. Whatever the reason, getting her to an abortion clinic can require some incentives… like\u00a0blackmail<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0financial threats<\/a>. It isn\u2019t unusual: there are studies that suggest\u00a0more than half<\/a>\u00a0of women who have abortions feel pressured to do so.<\/p>\n

But what if that doesn\u2019t work? Well, some men go with arson instead.\u00a0Joseph Minerd<\/a>\u00a0did; his pregnant ex-girlfriend and her daughter both died when he firebombed their house.<\/p>\n

Others prefer to inflict multiple stab wounds, like the ones\u00a0Leah Diver<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Tasha Rossette<\/a>\u00a0suffered. Or, like Christian Ferdinand, they may opt to\u00a0smother<\/a>\u00a0a girlfriend who refuses to abort.<\/p>\n

Those who live in colder areas might copy Roxanne Fernando’s boyfriend; Roxanne was beaten to death and buried\u00a0under a snowbank<\/a>\u00a0after she insisted on keeping her child.<\/p>\n

Still others favor bullets. Shamari Jenkins\u00a0took one<\/a>\u00a0when she wouldn\u2019t kill her son, as did Tanika Rachelle Fox<\/a>, Jennifer Peck<\/a>, and plenty of others<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Given these facts, it’s not surprising that the CDC lists homicide as\u00a0a leading cause<\/a>\u00a0of death during pregnancy.<\/p>\n

Obviously, having \u201cthe right to choose\u201d doesn\u2019t mean much when one of the choices involves blunt force trauma. Consequently, you might think policies \u201cthat are good for women’s freedom<\/a>\u201d would include laws to better protect them from coercion. NARAL thinks otherwise.<\/p>\n

Last year, Texas state representative Molly White proposed legislation<\/a> requiring abortion clinics to offer a private room equipped with information about support services and a telephone to contact law enforcement. Instead of getting behind the bill, NARAL Pro-Choice Texas said it was \u201cnot needed<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

And NARAL continues to support Planned Parenthood despite its history of helping abusers hide their crimes<\/a>. In multiple cases, child sex predators used coerced abortions to stay out of jail and keep harming their victims. Time and again, Planned Parenthood staff failed to alert authorities despite seeing girls who were pregnant and\u00a0well below the age of consent<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Live Action has documented<\/a> a similar attitude. In 2011, Planned Parenthood facility\u00a0director Amy Woodruff was willing to arrange involuntary abortions for underage prostitutes who \u201ccan\u2019t speak English<\/a>\u201d and \u201cwon\u2019t know what\u2019s going on<\/a>.\u201d As she put it, \u201cIf they\u2019re 14 and under, just send them right there if they need an abortion, OK?\u201d<\/p>\n